Washington Post Launches API Portal for Developers

For the first time, The Washington Post is making its APIs available for programmers with the launch of "Powered by The Post," a portal featuring open APIs from news organization.

Developers will be able to create their own unique applications using data vetted or published by The Post, such as presidential speeches, White House visits, campaign finance data and more, officials from the news organization said.

"Launching an API portal allows developers outside The Post to create new, interesting ways to understand and present the data we've collected, including creating mash-ups with all the other interesting data that exists on the Web," Shailesh Prakash, vice president of digital product development and CIO at The Washington Post, said in a statement.

Moreover, in addition to the new API portal, on Oct. 6 and 7, The Washington Post will host an Election Hackathon devoted to the 2012 presidential election. The Election Hackathon is a chance for developers to show off their skills and build relevant apps on-site that leverage data from The Post, NPR, Sunlight Labs and other APIs.

"The Election Hackathon will be an opportunity to shed new light on the presidential election," Dave Goldberg, director of API products at The Washington Post, said in a statement. "We love the idea of bringing together talented developers to network, compete and collaborate."

Developers who create the best apps will receive prizes. The judges for the competition include CmdrTaco, editor-at-large of WaPo Labs; Ezra Klein, Washington Post columnist and Wonkblog editor; and Brian Boyer, news application editor at NPR. Prizes will be awarded for best overall app, best data visualization and best mash-up.

To learn more about "Powered by The Post" or to register for the upcoming Election Hackathon, go here.